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Thursday, 30 November 2017

The new year is such a great time for vision and goal setting, for removing what's holding us back and just getting back into the flow of our lives, and making a positive difference in what ever way we can. Personal coaching session and group webex's are available to help support you doing that.

1:1 Coaching

I wanted to remind you to get in touch if you'd like to understand more about how personal coaching sessions work, and how they might help you succeed and have a fabulous 2018 alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159

Coaching can include a number of 1 hours sessions over a few weeks or months; a slightly longer but single session; or even a 0.5 day to 2 day retreat where you get to explore a wider range of topics you'd like to focus on for 2018.

An alternative to 1:1 coaching is to get involved in a webex, which is a mix of lecture, discussion and Q&A between a small group of like minded people. Topics can include:

Vision and goal setting

Finding motivation

Building confidence

Understanding self and others

Creativity

The art of doing something different every day

Again let me know if this is something you'd be interested in alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159
More about services available to organisations can be found here and here.Here's to a fabulous 2018 full of inspiration and joy.Alison SmithUnlocking your potential - with the odd unconventional tool thrown in when neededalison@alisonsmith.eu +44(0)7770 538159

Friday, 24 November 2017

Words have power and in this post written for Future Purchasing I explore the negative and unintended consequence using the word 'Maverick' has on our relationship with the very people we're describing as such.

I love exploring the power of words to unlock potential and ideas, and their ability to lock it out too. Other posts written on the subject include:

Monday, 20 November 2017

Is it procurement that's behind the high walls surrounded by barbed wire in this picture, or your stakeholders defending themselves?

Procurement doesn't take place in a vacuum. Instead procurement is undertaken in a complex environment with multiple parties, often with conflicting objectives, and various beliefs about who is responsible for what.

Effective stakeholder engagement, cooperation and communication is therefore essential for any procurement activity to be successful.

It's a topic I return to often here (see links at the bottom of this post to other posts I've written on the subject), and certainly something we explore in coaching and training sessions.

Human relationships are not always easy. Especially when we often start with the premise that we're right, and it's the other person who needs to be persuaded of the error in their thinking.

The challenge is then about us putting our beliefs down long enough to understand the impact our behaviours are having on the situation, and then as a result of that insight making changes to our own communication.

Earlier in the year, during a creativity session on a category management workshop, I asked one team to draw the problem they were having with a stakeholder. (Another group were asked to explore the situation using pipe cleaners, another used problem reversal.)

The above picture was the outcome of that request.

The group described their stakeholder sitting behind high walls, which were also surrounded by barbed wire.

I then asked them to draw what the end result they wanted looked liked, and they drew this:

As they drew the two images they were discussing the reasons behind the situation, and options to positively change the relationship.

One thread of discussion included the group wondering who had built the walls, and a solution emerged once they took responsibility for the current situation. It would seem they'd felt isolated from their stakeholder, and unable to talk the same language to get them to listen. I may have even asked if it was really the stakeholders behind the high walls or procurement.

As they explored dismantling the walls other solutions appeared, and a confidence emerged that the current situation wasn't set in stone. They discovered they did have much they could do to alter the situation.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

I've just had one of those great months full of what I'm passionate about.Just in case you're not sure what I do, therefore, I thought I'd summarise why I'm so enthused, and then share a few posts that I've mentioned to people recently in a "I've written a blog on that" sort of way.Over recent months I've been busy with:

Category management / procurement workshops - including stakeholder engagement, value levers, and creativity. Keeping the energy up, minds open and constantly looking for new ways to bring the 'theory and process' alive.

1:1 Coaching - OMG - I love the diversity of challenges we explore, and real difference it can make. Always searching for those powerful questions that unlock people's potential - in procurement, business and personally.

Vlogging - thanks Tina for reminding me how much I enjoy exploring ideas this way - even if I'm rarely in front of the camera :-). (see my YouTube channel for more)

Writing - more very soon on this - with great things planned for 2018.

And if that's not enough I'm still managing to open water swim here in Scotland which all adds to the high. (This picture was taken at 0745 one November morning just before sunrise with frost on the ground and an air temperature of 3 degrees. We think the sea will have been about 8 or 9!)

After a busy few months of workshops I've a number of new followers for this blog, and as I've also mentioned a few posts during those workshops I thought I'd provide an index of them here.

But first, a few indexes of posts any new followers might also find helpful:

I've written a blog on that - part 1 - an index from 2 years ago of posts covering the softer skills covered on the workshops at that time (I'll add any additional ones written since then and mentioned on the workshops below)

Monday, 13 November 2017

I celebrate a mid decade birthday today - not quite as profound an impact as my 50th birthday but never the less thought provoking as time ticks by and another milestone birthday approaches.

I often use my birthday as a means of reflecting on progress, resetting intentions, and inspiring future action. Which means a Transformation Game won't be far away.

As I revisited my Fab at 50 post from 5 years ago, and mulled on the fact that 13th November is also World Kindness day, I realised my to-be list at that time, whilst not addressing kindness directly, certainly mentioned other ways of 'being' that align with it:

35. Loving36. Open37. Trusting 38. Enthusiastic39. Joyous40. Positive41. ChallengingAre on my To-Be list to be the change I want to see in the world.

Just like kindness isn't for one day, neither is being loving, trusting and open. What today does help me do though is reflect on how well I'm meeting my intention, and identify ways I can model more of what I want to see in the world - every day - not just my birthday.

Tuesday, 7 November 2017

I've been busy vlogging and thought you may want to see what I've been up to - they're all insights from nature that can be applied to our lives.

This vlog is about how to build bridges when we're resisting because we still don't really like the other person.

In this vlog I return to not being able to see the wood for the trees and realise you don't have to - you just need to keep moving.

I saw this Sycamore tree on the side of Derwent Water in Cumbria and realised we're often in the same predicament and forget there's things we can do to get more grounded.

This next vlog might be my new favourite Landscaping Your Life vlog - see what you think - I certainly had fun, and as weird as it might seem I'm sure it will shift something if you're in need of turning a new leaf or two - better if you go out into the woods and do the same.

This is from a recent swim in the sea (yes in November!!) and helps remind us that we sometimes need to go through the pain to get to the pleasure.

Can't see the Wood for the Trees

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“Alison has a strong passion and energy for what she does which was demonstrated in her ability to run an innovative session for my team, (using a number of unconventional tools), that identified what was holding us back from being a high performing team. This ability, when coupled with her capability to bring fun into the session, was a powerful tool for helping my team realise their full potential.”

"Alison brings a unique blend of effective facilitation skills together with an in depth understanding of the corporate world. This enable her to subtly lead executives through the frameworks for change process (one of the unconventional tools she uses) that eliminates the barriers to moving forward and enables both individuals and teams to find the right track to improve performance, results and personal well being. I can highly recommend Alison to leaders who are looking for, and are prepared to explore something that is different but is so very effective.”